Monday, November 30, 2015

Plotagon is an excellent app for digital storytelling that reminds me of a cross between Xtranormal and Alice Storytelling. It's a super easy tool to use that lets students create a digital story by choosing a character and selecting and then typing their script. Plotagon does the rest. However, a user can also create their characters from scratch, add sound effects, and more. Best of all, is the educational portal that allows educators to manage/create student accounts as well as "house" their animations/stories in a safe controlled environment. Finally, educators are using Plotagon to help teach any subject and curriculum as well as for Project Based Learning and to "flip" their classroom.

Oncore is a free iPad app that acts as a learning management system for teachers. This simple to use app allows educators to track student behavior as well as assess students in real-time. The way this works is by uses color-coded data, to help educators visualize student's performance and help assess data.

Unique to Oncore is its integration of Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. Teachers can tie a standard to classroom activities, groups, assignments, or individual participations with students."

I highly recommend checking out Oncore Classroom Productivity app by clicking here!!!*Oncore is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

ProjectorScreen.com is an excellent site for people or educators to find projectors and other type of equipment for their classrooms. Not only can a person search through an immense amount of screens, but from other categories such as fixed or manual, multimedia carts, boards, chairs, and more.

Friday, November 27, 2015

Answerables is a wonderful new innovative site/game that is perfect for Game Based Learning (or more accurate Game Based Learning meets Learning Management System). It reminds me of Second Life but geared more toward kids w/ their fantasy/SciFi environment. The game takes place in the 3D virtual world of Answerables on a planet called Proxima, where the native Ansibles (students) encounter an alien race.

What makes this so great for education that is the safe/COPPA compliant environment that Answerables provides. This is an ideal place for students to collaborate w/ others and develop their social learning skills. Answerables provides windows (i.e. Second Life) to view the web, go on quests, etc. The student dashboard allows students to track their quests, notifications, events, PODS (Personal Online Development Spaces), and more.

Educators can create a lesson/POD (manage permissions), create webquests, internet scave
nger hunts, host live events, and best of all "Gamify" their lesson. This is great for introducing a new concept, guided/differentiated instruction, and even "Flipping" a classroom. Also, teachers (parents too) can track/monitor student progress, share and view resources by collaborating w/ other educators, and even setup tutoring courses where they set their own rate.

Buncee is far and away one of my favorite sites/apps for the classroom. This is an easy to use learning tool that educators are using for a wide variety of purposes such as: digital storytelling, project based learning, flipping a classroom, and much much more. Also, through their educational portal educators can track and manage student account, assess students projects in real-time, find educational resources, etc. Recently, Buncee released their Classroom Activities for Fall package which contains lots of templates and lesson plans for teachers looking to use Buncee in their Classroom.

I highly recommend checking out Buncee for Fall Activities by clicking here!!!

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

AlfaTyping is an excellent free site for keyboarding/typing that I just found out about from Free Technology 4 Teachers. This is a great way for students to learn how to type and for educators to track their progress. Educators have the option to create a classroom and their lessons or select from a wide variety of them.

Storyboard That the excellent learning tool that educators are using in a wide variety of ways (i.e. project based learning, graphic organizers, storyboards/telling, etc.) last week released a free teacher guide for different Thanksgiving activities. These activities are great for telling the story of Thanksgiving, labeling different items, telling what you are "thankful" for and more. Best of all, a teacher can copy the storyboard and use or edit it for creating their own template.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Knowledge Battle is a wonderful free iOS app for Game Based Learning. This game has students playing through a wide variety of subjects (i.e. Math, Science, Programming, etc) as they defeat different villains/yogotars and unlock special power ups. Also, parents can sign up for monthly or yearly plans to get the most educational content from Yogome.

Prodigy is a fantastic free online Math game that is ideal for Game Based Learning. This super fun highly engaging game designed for grades 1st-8th and is aligned to Common Core Standards. Best of all is the teacher portal which allows for educators to assess students and get instant real-time reporting. Prodigy, even has a unique learning engine which allows the game to differentiate instruction and help students w/ areas they are struggling in. Teachers can modify the game to suit their needs and select which skills their students need to focus on too. Also, Prodigy is browser based and works on any device (i.e iPad or Chromebook).

*Prodigy is now for 7th-8th grade too!!!** Prodigy has added thousands of questions covering more than 150 new Math skills!!

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Sketch Nation is a wonderful free app (iOS/Android) and website for creating games. Sketch Nation reminds me of Pixel Press Floors but w/out the paper. All a student has to do is select their category of game (i.e. platform, jumping, etc) then draw their backgrounds/characters/items and let Sketch Nation do the rest. The advanced level editor will help students create more complex games and work on their STEM skills. Sketch Nation even has a nice section for education w/ a collection of games created by students.

Friday, November 6, 2015

BoomWriter the excellent free collaborative writing tool for schools has just released their district wide program. This is a wonderful innovative way to integrate technology into the classroom.

More from their press release...

BoomWriter for Districts ensures that a complete
education technology experience will be delivered to your teachers and
students resulting in improved fiction and nonfiction reading, writing
and content assessment skills, and enhanced vocabulary development.

Regardless of in-school computer/device access,
elementary, middle and high school-grade students will demonstrate
increased engagement and writing output levels, allowing teachers to
better assess levels of understanding and writing proficiency while
providing more personalized and impactful levels of instruction.Program Benefits

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Innovation Age of Crafting is a fun free iOS game for learning about how inventions were made. This is done by playing this challenging puzzle game where users slide tiles across a board to make inventions (i.e. two rocks together makes a cave, or two cave people make a family, etc.) There are over 120 levels and 5 time periods (i.e. Stone Age, Renaissance, etc). to play through and unlock other potential combinations/inventions.

I highly recommend checking out Innovation Age of Crafting by clicking here!!!

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Bloomz is a free iOS/Android app for communication that I just found out about from Free Technology 4 Teachers. Bloomz reminds me of a cross between Class Dojo and Remind as it lets teachers communicate w/ parents by sending them class updates such as: pictures, emails, events, reminders and more.

The way this work is a educators signs up then selects their school. Once their school is selected a teacher can then create a class an invite parents to join their class. All communication is private as teachers control who gets invited and is secure. Then parents will get updated automatically via texts in real-time or for those that don't sign up can receive an email. Educators can even schedule parent teacher conferences using Bloomz.

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David Kapuler

I have been working w/ technology and education for over 14 years in a school setting. I'm looking for work in a K-12 environment as a Technology Integration/Support Specialist in WI/IL. Contact email - dkapuler@gmail.com
I'm currently looking to get my Mac OS/Repair Certification, as well as a Masters in Technology Integration.
Also, I have a solid background in web design, w/ network/server support.
On a personal note, I';m a proud father of 3 boys and 1 girl, and have been married for 10 years.